Claret & Ivory

Claret & Ivory, a photo by Scrumptious Buns (Samantha) on Flickr.

This wedding cupcake tower consists of 75 large cupcakes, 75 mini cupcakes and a giant cupcake on the top tier... a mixture of Madagascan Vanilla and Limoncello with buttercream swirls, embossed fondant tops and poured fondant.

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Claret & Ivory

Claret & Ivory, a photo by Scrumptious Buns (Samantha) on Flickr.

I quickly photographed the Giant Cupcake and some of the Rose topped cuppies before I left for the venue... Hunters Hall, Swanton Morley, is notoriously dark with no natural light at all in the marquee... resulting in pretty awful photographs of the Cupcake Tower once set up :0( ... Ivory cakes photograph so much better in natural light... usually, I take them outside under the gazebo and photograph them there as the gazebo eliminates any dark, harsh shadows resulting in a great photo... as you'll see when I post the pic of the tower (in the marquee) the quality is very different!

Anyhoo... this is a Madagascan vanilla top cake, baked in the Wilton tin, then popped in a white chocolate mould and frosted with rose swirls. All handmade roses... love this colour scheme!

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Oat, Raisin & White Chocolate Cookies

... with my favourite flavour... cinnamon!

Makes about 30 digestive biscuit size cookies...

Ingredients
270g butter
160g caster sugar
160g soft dark brown sugar
2 medium eggs
380g plain flour
1 tsp bicarb of soda
0.5 tsp ground cinnamon (YUM!)
110g rolled porridge oats
220g raisins
100g white chocolate chunks

What to do...

1. Preheat oven to 170°C
2. Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy
3. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing and scraping bowl after each addition
4. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, bicarb of soda and cinnamon... add the oats
5. Add flour to butter mixture and beat until well mixed, stir in raisins and white chocolate chunks with a wooden spoon until evenly dispersed
6. Dollop spoonfuls of cookie dough onto a baking sheet prepared with greaseproof paper, allow for spreading!
7. Bake for about 10-12 minutes.
8. Leave to cool slightly before removing from trays, then cool on rack.

Let me know what you think... I made these for my brother's girlfriend who'd just had an ickle baby by C Section and wasn't enjoying the hospital food... after 5 of these little treats she was able to come home... should call them magic cookies!

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Hello Kitty Stacked Cake

Hello Kitty Stacked Cake, a photo by Scrumptious Buns (Samantha) on Flickr.

Ok... so this was the 2nd cake that I made for my little girl's birthday... she has a 'friends party' and a 'family party' so I have to make 2 cakes... more often than not along the Hello Kitty theme. I long for the day when it's something different, lol!

The bottom tier is an 8" Chocolate Mud cake, filled with Dairy Milk ganache. The top tier is a 6" Madagascan vanilla sponge, coloured pink, of course... filled with vanilla buttercream... both delicious!

I had to use a bit of dried spaghetti for the balloon string as I was lost for ideas... hugely worried it would snap... any other suggestions most gratefully received!

Oh well... I'm off to make 24 sugarpaste ponies! Sam x

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Hello Kitty Birthday Cake

Hello Kitty Birthday Cake, a photo by Scrumptious Buns (Samantha) on Flickr.

The first Hello Kitty birthday cake of the weekend, ordered by my little girl for her 6th Birthday - this one was for her party with her school friends.

A 6" Madagascan vanilla sponge in 3 layers, sandwiched together with chocolate buttercream and a Dairy Milk ganache finish.

My first attempt at a bow and a candle... have wanted to do these for ages after seeing them pop up here on Flickr... not sure who started the trend... either Dot or Vanessa I think!

Anyway, Ella LOVED it... I put some sparklers in it too... fabulous ;D

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